What is with Burt out IT Ppl Going in to Nursing?

amoLucia · Jul 30, 2014

I find it hard to believe that some hospital in NH area has 51 positions open. Hearing what I've been hearing from all over the place from nurses here on AN, I just don't know about that.

I believe some places just advertise open positions, but have no real intentions of filling them. Or else they make the requirements so specifically detailed for education and experience that the position remains unfilled.

I'm being frank & honest with you. Don't be too quick to believe all that you're reading about job availability. There is no nursing shortage, just a glut of nurses out there, esp new graduates. And you too may be a newbie someday.

As to your question why folk, incl ITs are second-careering to nursing... I believe every industry is downsizing and outsourcing. Today's work environment is becoming less fulfilling and more distressing for those who remain, having to do more with less to do it with. As you read here on AN, you'll see that teachers, cops, lawyers and a slew of others are also seriously planning to second-career into nsg. Re IT, I think that as John (and Jane) Q Public become more and more tech savvy, there is becoming a less and less need for big IT depts to exist in many companies.

For ANY industry in-house staff, they realize that they can become obsolete very quickly. Younger and more talented job seekers are out there just waiting for a chance to move in and up. (Kinda like what nsg is facing today.)

Just last nite and this morning, I was watching 2 totally different & unrelated TV realty shows. Two participants both announced that they were going to become nurses when they straightened out their lives. Like they haven't a clue .....

calivianya, BSN, RN · Jul 31, 2014

Number of job openings does not translate to number of jobs you could be hired in, especially for new grads. There is a hospital in my area with more than 200 openings. I have applied to four of those jobs and been rejected from all of them. Be wary of making a decision about how easy it is to get a job in a field based on the number of "openings."

MrFuggles · Jul 31, 2014

amoLucia Thanks for the reply ! I have to wonder how you have been a nurse ? The reason I ask is, are you facing or seeing other that have been in nursing for a long time facing the same burn out I am in IT? I have worked in IT for 20+ years there isnt much I haven't seen. In the north east IT jobs are plentiful for sure, I am just tied of people that cant remember their passwords from Engineering, CEO's and Phd's. I have to disagree about people becoming more tech savvy, maybe some are good with their Iphones and Ipad but when it comes to Corp. IT forget it !

It is too bad there is a glut of new Nurses out there, I can remember when Microsoft boot camps came out to get people tested and certified in a week. All these people had the cert but no exp and never got jobs or got jobs as helpdesk tech at $10 bucks an hour.

Do you think this will soon pass in Nursing ? I know here in NH Nusring programs are exploding, schools are building new sections just for nursing.

The area I think I am heading to is Nursing Infomatics I see this as an area that is going to grow like crazy in the 5 to 8 years.

Should be interesting.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jul 31, 2014

I've been a nurse since the Earth's crust was cooling.

Nurses (and other human services workers) are far more vulnerable to burnout than other professions. Our jobs require us to serve "two masters"... we are expected to maintain the principles & standards of the profession in which we are licensed. A foundational goal of professional education is to enculturate students - by the time they are licensed, the profession is a major component of their identity. Check this out for yourself. Ask any nurse to describe himself. Chances are, one of the first things will be "I'm a nurse".

At the same time, we must adhere to the (very rigid) performance expectations of the employer who is paying our salary. It is rare that the latter fully supports the former. Therefore, we are continuously 'on the edge' - compelled to meet employment standards that are frequently antithetical to our professional ideals. Example:Administering medications to a group of patients is a very complex process; we are supposed to deliberately check the "5 rights" before each dose.... but the increasing patient care workload means that a nurse has to cut corners & multitask or the medications will not be administered "on time".

The cherry on top??? Expectations of the patients and their families are frequently unrealistic as well - nurses are the 'face' of healthcare, so we must absorb all the negativity when any part of the "patient experience" does not life up to their (5 star hotel) expectations - and we are subjected to employer discipline for any lapses in 'customer service'.... which is measured on a continual basis.

So, yeah - we are the epicenter of burnout. Caught in an everlasting sqeezeplay. And there's no indication that it will change in the foreseeable future.

You're correct - Clinical informatics is an expanding career field. My organization employs many Nurse Informaticists - entry level qualification is an MSN in Informatics & high level of expertise in clinical systems. Most have ~ 5 years of bedside experience prior to obtaining their graduate degree.

Best of luck on your career change.

amoLucia · Jul 31, 2014

To OP - you directed some questions towards me, but HouTx answered as I would have for much of my answers. (TY, HouTx. my thoughts exactly.) I graduated nsg school in 1974 and have now gone out on early retirement for some major health issues. Otherwise, I'd still be working although the 'thrill has been long gone' for a while. We 'ancient ones' have seen many changes come along. Job satisfaction just isn't there anymore in large enough quantity to keep banging heads against the wall. Burnout, or rather maybe just being 'tired' is very, very real in nsg.

Something I'm seeing in these posts is that more & more nurses are dissatisfied at much earlier stages in their careers than has been in the past. I mean we're talking after only a few years as the newer nurses start to look outside of clinical nsg or into advanced education, and even other careers (even choosing to be stay-at-home moms longer for a while).

What I think is happening is that they may be experiencing a combo of 'reality shock' coupled WITH burnout. Classically, 'reality shock' used to occur some time AFTER 'the honeymoon phase' of starting a new career. New nurses have barely had a chance to get their feet wet. They may have bit off more than they could chew as many have jumped into areas of nsg that overwhelm them. Like one doesn't run the Boston Marathon if one hasn't walked around the block yet! Sadly, I doubt reality shock is even mentioned in nsg school.

I stand by what I previously wrote about the changing of technology in our field (and others). I am a technology dinosaur - I have NO idea how to run my DVR; my cell phone does not have a camera; my sister programmed my telephone and has to reset my printer when the electricity goes out; and what is WIFI? Other staff are wizards with technology. I wanted to take a sledge hammer to the pyxis when it was introduced to my workplace; same as my having to electronically 'pronounce' for a death certificate. I deal with it BECAUSE I HAVE TO. But my mind fires away at 'warp speed' when I deal 'hands on' directly with pts health and care while comprehensively 'seeing the big picture'. THAT I'm good at.

Burnout is real, but at my stage, it felt more like just being 'tired' as I said - for all the reasons HouTx posted.

I don't know what you're looking to do in nsg. But I believe you'll be in the front line nsg trenches. Nsg is changing and I don't think nsg schools are painting an honest picture. More and more nurse positions are being eliminated as non-licensed staff take on what previously was only in our scope of practice.

IT will always be nec but it will change as everything else changes along with it.

Good luck with you career.

MrFuggles · Aug 1, 2014

Hi Amo

Hey Thank you for the reply, see I am on the flip side of my IT career, I am in the same boat you are in with nursing. Wanna swap ? :)

My only reason for choosing nursing is a drive I had since I was a kid, I always wanted to be a paramedic for as long as I can remember. I joined ski patrol 3 years ago and I think this rekindled the drive to move in to the medical field. Our OEC or outdoor emergency care class is the same material as an EMT B cert. After going on calls all winter for the past few seasons it has kicked in for me to do something. I am so sick and tired of people forgetting their password and bumping their wifi switch and yelling at me because it doesnt work. It is ALWAYS the IT guys fault when they screw up. Yes I am extremely bitter as time passes.

What I have found in patrol is that I can help people out and they say thank you as they are loaded in the of the Bus.

I hate coming to work everyday, I get to play with cool technology but the people never change no matter what company I go to.

So yes I am tired as well, I agree with you 100%, I am hoping that my love for tech and new love for nursing will merge nicely.

We will see, worse case I will fall back to IT and just ride that I cant.

I wish both you guys well wishes, I am hoping to start ns school in the fall f 15 I start A&P1 in the sept this year.

thanks again for your replies!

B

Geeheeb · Aug 15, 2014

I was a Linux administrator for 12 years. Start nursing school in January and I have been working as a PCT for four months. Starting over at the bottom is crazy, and I get frustrated with all the turnkey solutions for EMR or telemetry monitoring but looking at the body as a system just like a server / network / whatever is really cool. Love talking to people about health instead of someone yelling at me for 10 minutes of mail downtime when it was their cell connection.

MrFuggles · Aug 15, 2014

Geeheeb THANK YOU for the chuckle ! Yeah I have the exact same feeling ! and have been there so many times. It is funny how IT people get yelled at when someone comes and asks you fro help and it turns out it was their own stupidity.

Our 2 Nursing school are not taking new students until the fall of 2015. I HAVE to make this work working in IT has just burned me out. I start A&P 1 on Sept 2 this year.

I have been working ski patrol now for 3 years and it has kicked me in the ass to get in to the med field. Cant wait to get rolling.

Thanks for the post !

B

caliotter3 · Aug 15, 2014

I left IT because I thought I was doing myself a favor by going back to what I had wanted to do my entire life. I had no idea what the reality of nursing was and they said absolutely nothing about the negativity in nursing school. I would prefer to go back to IT but have been passed by. I was nothing more than a mainframe operator and supervisor. I was always told that computer operators were "nothing" and computer programmers were "everything". I was quite happy in my own little computer operations niche, but that didn't pan out in long term employment. Since nursing beckoned me anyway, I did not worry myself over the lack of computer operator jobs. I just want to warn you to be aware that an easy to obtain nursing job may not be waiting for you. And I also need to alert you to the fact that age discrimination is alive and well in nursing.

MrFuggles · Aug 15, 2014

Note taken, I guess if the Nursing thing flops I will have my IT skills to fall back on.

But thanks for the update, I too feel that way about the medical industry.

Always wanted to be a medic but no way in hell I would do that now not with all

the Firehouse drama that seems to go on in the industry.

Plus I have a NP friend who keeps kicking me in the ass to keep going with this.

That helps

Mainframe huh man that was a while ago :)

thanks for the post.